Dolphins Cubs ready for CSA Franchise Cubs Week:
Durban – The Hollywoodbets Dolphins Under-19 Cubs team will be looking to hit the ground running at the CSA Franchise Cubs Week when it gets underway this week in Stellenbosch with a first match against the Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras Cubs on Wednesday.
The 2021 edition of Cubs Week will be the fourteenth time that this competition is held and it will be contested by the six franchises in a bio-secure environment under the adherence of the Covid-19 protocols with the final being played on Sunday, 7 February.
The Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cubs will be looking to build on the success of the 2019 side who won the tournament under the watchful eye of Fabian Lazarus and now Hollywoodbets Dolphins fielding coach, Mduduzi Mbatha.
“Winning a tournament of this magnitude takes a massive team effort. That Hollywoodbets Dolphins 2019 Cubs team was a special one, everyone contributed in some way when the team needed it,” Lazarus said. “This year isn’t any different as the key focus revolves around putting the team first.”
Lazarus will be joined by KZN Inland Under-19 Academy Head Coach, Minenhle Magubane who will be making his coaching debut in the annual competition.
“I look forward to working with this talented team and working alongside Fabian, he has really involved me in the decision making processes and most importantly I understand my roles and responsibilities. I am already learning and growing as a coach under his guidance,” Magubane said.
The 2021 Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cubs squad will boast six players who have progressed from the KZN RPC/Hub programme. Sanele Mbatha, Bongumusa Shezi, Thulani Chiliza, Andile Wanda who are from the Umlazi Hub, Chad Laycock who began his career at the Chatsworth RPC and Banele Cele from the INK Hub.
Lazarus continued to thank Hilton College and Ashton College who opened their doors and allowed the team to prepare for the Cubs Week.
KZN Cricket Union CEO, Heinrich Strydom wished the Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cubs the very best for their tournament and expressed his pride for the team.
“The CSA Franchise Cubs Week is always exciting as we get to see our talented youngsters compete at a national level,” Strydom said. “The Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cubs side is an impressive group of players with six players progressing through the KZN Cricket RPC/Hub programme.
“For me, this shows the strength of the KZN Cricket pipeline and I would like to thank Sunfoil and KZN Department of Sport and Recreation for their continued support in this programme. We cannot wait to see this team take the field and give it their best shot.”
The post Dolphins Cubs ready for CSA Franchise Cubs Week appeared first on Hollywoodbets Dolphins.
Dolphins primed ahead of One Day Cup final:
Durban – Following their dramatic recovery to win their Momentum One Day Cup semi-final, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins feel confident that they can win the domestic 50 over competition outright when they face the Imperial Lions in the title decider in Potchefstroom on Thursday.
The Dolphins have won two of their completed pool games and then returned to Senwes Park to beat the Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras by three wickets in their semi-final on Monday while the Lions had their semi-final rained off on Tuesday and qualify for the final through superior points.
The Lions were the dominant side in group B during the pool phase and stand-in coach for the Dolphins Quinton Friend knows that it is going to be a difficult match against the Johannesburg-based side.
“They are a good side under the guidance of Wandile Gwavu and they are a well-drilled team,” Friend said, who is coaching in the absence of head coach Imraan Khan who has been called up to the Proteas side as assistant coach for the T20 series against Pakistan.
“We are well aware of the Lions and what is coming our way but they have also lost a few players to the Proteas T20 squad in Ryan Rickelton and Bjorn Fortuin.
“In losing two players like that it’s massive in that line-up and replacing them will be really big for them.”
Despite the Dolphins getting over the line in their semi-final and winning their two pool matches, Friend knows that there is a lot of room for improvement amongst their batting line-up.
“I’m still not entirely happy with how we are operating from a batting perspective, our top five and six need to be taking a lot more responsibility.
“We haven’t batted at our best in this competition yet and we have got to the final so it shows you how well our six, seven, eight and nine are getting us over the line.
“We’ve chatted a lot about it and we know the capabilities of our top five and they know that in a final you have to stand up and make a difference,” Friend added.
The match will be close to the pinnacle of the season for the Dolphins, however they want to treat the match as they would any other.
“We are trying not to put too much emphasis on the word final,” Friend stressed. “We didn’t put much focus on the word semi-final either; we just saw it as another cricket match.
“Keeping the pressure off us is important because in the semi-final it seemed like we did worry about it a little when we were 60 for five.
“The encouraging thing is that the guys know what to do when chasing in a play-off match and they understand and know what it is going to take to win a final,” he commented.
Should there be rain in Potchefstroom on Thursday then Friday has been set aside as the reserve day.
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The post Dolphins primed ahead of One Day Cup final appeared first on Hollywoodbets Dolphins.
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